Bridge repair

[koop]

Hooray for your decision to save the bridge!!!! To access our piece of land, we just purchased an 80' steel truss bridge. It has 4x10 pressure treated decking. The decking is only a couple years old so we hope it will last another 40 without further treatment (hard to do over river without getting product into water). Our steel stringers are spaced 2'9" on center (5 total) with an 11'2 roadway. When this bridge was inspected for the state, the decking was the weak link reducing the rating to 7 tons. Mind you this was on a state road which I assume requires more conservative rating than an occasional private use bridge. On that note, what engineering resources have you been using? Did the local officials ever give you a minimum weight requirement?

Again, it is so great to see someone preserving something in our disposable society.

 

[koop]

Hooray for your decision to save the bridge!!!! To access our piece of land, we just purchased an 80' steel truss bridge. It has 4x10 pressure treated decking. The decking is only a couple years old so we hope it will last another 40 without further treatment (hard to do over river without getting product into water). Our steel stringers are spaced 2'9" on center (5 total) with an 11'2 roadway. When this bridge was inspected for the state, the decking was the weak link reducing the rating to 7 tons. Mind you this was on a state road which I assume requires more conservative rating than an occasional private use bridge. On that note, what engineering resources have you been using? Did the local officials ever give you a minimum weight requirement?

Again, it is so great to see someone preserving something in our disposable society.

 

[gcp]

Thank you for the kind words koop!

This Saturday I will drill, or punch if possible, 62 wholes in the two support I beams, and bolt the decking in place, if the wood is dry already (I don't want to the run the risk of cracking it if it still continuing to shrink). I'll take pictures of the whole process and post them when possible. I think this is gonna work

 

[firemanpat2910]

instead of drilling through the beams we welded a 1/4"x2" strip of flat stock to the edge of the beam. It made it much easier to drill and easier access to retighten the nuts and bolts. There is a screw on the market that is selftapping and will go straight into the I beam but they are very expensive. We only bolted the outside beams of our bridge, the inners are just ther for support. the deck boards hang over just enough that with out the welded strip it would be hard to lay on the bridge wrap your arm around and tighten the nuts.

_][ ][ ][ ][_
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

this is upside down but same idea

 

[gcp]

I am not a welder fireman so punching throught the steel will be option number 1, but if that doesen't work drilling will become option 2.

Thanks,

 

[koop]

Most bridges around here I have been looking at with decks use similar fasteners. No holes are drilled through the steel flange, but rather the bolts are drilled right next to the flange so that a clip is bolted to the flange. I am sure cost on this hardware is not cheap, but easy to install and maintain.

 

[gcp]

Well folks, all I can say is that the bridge decking has been installed and it looks GREAT! While another friend and I where framing and hanging a custom fabricated door (two 3/4 inch pieces of plywood glued/screwed together), at my hunting trailer (had a break-in recently and am trying to make it as secure as possible), my buddy Jeff worked 4 non-stop hours on the bridge by moving each plank, punching a half inch hole, per side, with his hydraulic punch (Powerteam 10 ton), and then installing and tightening the 3/8 inch carriage bolts for a solid, professional outcome. The pics below show the equipment used and three friends enjoying a most wonderful outcome. All that now remains is to trim and seal the wood, and build a nice comfortable bench, on the pond side, for fishing, or whatever else we can think of, next time we get together.

For more before and after pics please go to link below:

George/Property projects - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[gcp]

This was another very hot but also quite productive weekend at the property. Firstly I applied the original sealer coat on the bridge's decking (diesel and burned motor oil mixture). It seems the wood was thirsty for some help because within a couple of hours it was dry at the surface once more so I imagine 'till the sealer soaks through and through I'll have to apply many more coats....probably a couple every weekend for a month or so. The water already seems reluctant to penetrate the wood pores so I think this solution will work as planned.

But the project I am most proud of was the cleaning of my pond. I borrowed an aluminum flat bottom boat and went to town with it using the chain saw for the larger trunks and sheers for the branches. Talk about a tricky task, cutting safely with a chain saw while on a constantly moving flat bottom dingy. A few choice words came to mind!

Here's a couple of before shots...

...and here's a couple of after shots.

Not completely there yet but as soon as I buy a reasonably priced flat bottom, of my own, I'll continue working it until most of the back part of the pond is cleared. It's probably a couple of acres big and about 7 feet at its deepest point, while a couple of feet down because of the Alabama drought we are experiencing, so I believe this pond is worth stocking. Problem is I’ll have to control the run-off when it overfills so I don’t loose my fish.

Here’s a pic of my makeshift wall in trying to control the already existing erosion issues of my drive. Now I’ll have some rocks and dirt delivered and placed over this wall for hopefully a permanent, erosion free solution. Do you see anything wrong with it? BTW, my mighty YM2000 came in handy when moving all the logs from within the pond so as they can be placed against the shore.

 

[gcp]

As an update to my efforts; I removed all the timber and rocks I had thrown into the area, as shown in the pic above, and stacked them against the now low water line in an attempt to create a makeshift wall between the water and the dirt I am about to dump into the existing holes/eroded areas. I plan to build the whole area up with dirt and then possibly lay rip-rap at the bottom of the dirt pile to help keep it from being further eroded by the water line. I know that a cement wall will be the right way to do this but it's hard to get to the area with a heavy cement truck, plus it will be prohibitively expensive. What needs to be done here is extend inward the slope of the shore but that would take untold amounts of dirt so that's also an improbability.

Please provide me with your thoughts, or alternatives, as the waterline is currently low so I need to complete this task ASAP! I don't want to run the risk off loosing more of my drive this winter.

 

[gcp]

It's been a while since I visited around here. Been busy trying to solve my problems with my pond and road. I believe I am done and it only took close to 6 months but I learned a lot.

Here's the latest pics. The road and pond shore seem to be as solid as they can get so I think I'm done....but I had said that before and was proven wrong by mother nature.

George/Property projects - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Bottom line, for those of you who are faced with such a project, use rip-rap for the side of your pond (placed by hand by my wife and I), and old asphalt for your road top (got lucky there and was delivered 5 truckloads for free). Don't try to cludge it, it won't work and will only lead to more clean-up for you later. Helps to have a dry summer for the water level to be as low as possible.